Wish you were here....

So you think you can tell......
In college, it was "compulsory" for each one of us to be part of an extra-curricular organization.

Heaven from hell...
It was either the National Service Scheme (social welfare and grassroots stuff), National Sports Scheme (basically get some fresh air after classes, and 'put adda" in the sports ground), and the best of the best, the National Cadet Corps.

Blue skies from pain...
I have no clue how I got caught - can only blame it on the seniors 2 batches ahead of me who waltzed into class, and picked me out immediately, since I was known as the "Bombay wallah".

Can you tell a green field......
Saturday morning parades, at 8am sharp. Misty mornings, empty #23C bus.


From a cold steel rail?.....
Crunch of boots with nails grating on the asphalt of the CEG campus. Wasted Saturday mornings?


A smile from a veil? 
Sometimes had the good fortune of a 'darshan' of the NCC Navy folks doing their drills - ballet compared to ours!

Do you think you can tell? 
Sometimes wonder if it was all worth it!

And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts? 
Venkataramanaiah, a clown of the highest order, always talking through his hat, about snakes he encountered. Later on heard that he just left college one day and escaped to Singapore, where I'm sure he's expanded on his reptile knowledge!


Hot ashes for trees? 
Some mornings in the brutal Madras heat. Soaked uniforms. Some unfortunate souls wilting and then being sent for a "frog jump"!

Hot air for a cool breeze? 
At least they served us some semi-decent breakfasts at the canteen! Developed some level of a liking for pongal.

Cold comfort for change? 
Missing the camp in the summer of '99 was blissful. A year on I'd realize how lucky I was!

And did you exchange 

A walk on part in the war 
For a lead role in a cage? 
 Would have to do the camp in the summer of 2000, but that would also mean missing out on a bit of Euro 2000! Going to camp as a 'senior' would be a relief from the humdrum of the usual parades and all the jazz.
 
How I wish, how I wish you were here.

We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year, 
Miserable summer camp, but we soldiered on as brothers, each one looking out for the other. Today, I think each one of us looks back at that camp, and remembers the good times, and not the misery of it!

Running over the same old ground.
And how we found
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Dedicated to some of the most amazing people with whom I strengthened our friendships on that camp - Tanay, PD, Venks, Arvind, Mohan, among so many more who were part of Signals!